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New home sales dip down in Australia, latest data shows
Seasonally adjust new home sales in Australia were down marginally by 0.4% in July but the market overall is in strong shape, the latest report from the Housing Industry Association shows. This is because overall new home sales are at historically high levels, according to HIA chief economist Harley Dale. ‘It appears that the cyclical peak for total new home sales occurred in April, but the subsequent downward trend is very mild,’ he said. But he explained that key leading indicators of home building, including HIA new home sales, suggest little prospect for further growth in new home construction in the 2015/2016 financial year. ‘However, following three consecutive years of strong growth which has propped up the domestic economy considerably, both HIA new home sales and ABS building Approvals signal another healthy year for new home construction,’ he added. Indeed, the data shows that detached house sales increased by 0.7% in July this year but the annual peak for detached house sales has passed. Over the three months to July this year detached house sales fell by 2.8% and are 3.4% lower when compared to the three months to July 2014. Multi-unit sales peaked in May this year and fell by 4.2% in July following a decline of 2.9% in June. Over the three months to July this year multi-unit sales increased by 8.3% but it was the strength of the May result that drove the quarterly outcome. A breakdown of the latest data shows that in the month of July 2015 detached house sales increased by 4.2% in New South Wales but fell by 2.3% in Victoria and by 4.9% per cent in Western Australia. Sales were close to flat for the month in Queensland with a marginal fall of 0.6% and South Australia they were down by just 0.2%. Continue reading
First time buyers and university accommodation boosting Welsh property market
First time buyers and parents investing in property for their offspring going to university are among the factors boosting the residential housing market in Wales, a new report suggests. Across Wales first time buyer numbers are up, particularly in the new build markets in Cardiff and Newport, according to the latest spotlight report from real estate firm Savills which covers the South of Wales. Savills deal book data for South Wales shows 49% of buyers were aged under 40 in 2014 and other sources confirm the trend, with the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) data for Wales covering the final quarter of 2014 showing a 14% year on year increase in loans to first time buyers compared to a 4% rise in home mover loans over the same period. Official data also shows that the Help to Buy Wales scheme has assisted almost 1,400 completions since it was launched in January 2014 of which 74% were sales to first time buyers. Indeed, the average age of buyers in the scheme is 30, with an average sale price of £178,000. Some £48.7 million of the available £170 million funding has been spent so far, and a Government announcement on the possible extension of the scheme beyond the scheduled March 2016 closing date is expected later this year. The report explains that along with the boost provided by Help to Buy, the wider economic recovery has led to an improvement in market sentiment, with potential buyers more confident and finding mortgage availability much improved. ‘Help to Buy can also be credited with opening up the idea of purchasing a new build for younger buyers who may not have considered it previously,’ the report added. According to the report flats are the most popular new build product in Cardiff, due to first time buyers and downsizers both being key markets. In Cardiff flats make up over 70% of the new property sales recorded by the Land Registry in the year to February 2015 compared to 15% across Wales as a whole. Even in the cities of Swansea and Newport less than a quarter of new homes are flats, reflecting the unique nature of Cardiff’s market. The report also says that in Cardiff it is the city’s universities that are a key driver of activity, with parents buying property for their student children. ‘Good yields and strong demand for rental property around the university sites mean that these are often kept as investments following graduation,’ the report says. It also points out that Cardiff is expected to have the fastest growing population in Wales, according to the official projections, adding over 20,000 households a year on average over the next 25 years. ‘Our projections show a majority of these will be added in the private rented sector. The number of households in the private rented sector in the city doubled between 2001 and 2011, and we expect that further increases are likely,’ the report added. Indeed, Cardiff is… Continue reading
UK home builders facing a severe shortage of workers
It is not a lack of materials, sites or ability that is preventing house builders in the UK from meeting targets but a lack of workers, according to some of the country’s largest home firms. If 200,000 new homes are to be built by 2020, a target pledged by the government, recruitment in the industry would have to take a sharp upturn from current numbers, especially for the most highly skilled workers. ‘Whilst we as an industry are committed to the target of more affordable homes available to first time buyers, Weston Homes has had to really ramp up its recruitment in order to meet these targets,’ said Bob Weston, the firm’s chairman and chief executive. ‘We currently have a shortfall within the industry of skilled tradesmen, construction managers and fabricators, especially those with many years’ experience providing the quality we expect,’ he added. He pointed out that Weston Homes has recently sent 6,500 letters to local schools, attempting to attract more young people into apprenticeships and eventually the construction industry to meet the shortfall. In the last month Weston Homes has taken on 23 new recruits into its apprenticeship scheme, who join in to the around 20% of employees studying for NVQ’s, attending ILM management training or on sponsored day release courses. ‘It takes two years to train skilled workers and five years to train our best recruits to management level, though of course development lasts a lifetime. Finding someone with 20 plus years of experience is becoming increasingly rare and difficult,’ Weston said. ‘We have always been committed to getting more young people involved in the industry, and with these new affordable home targets we will need, as an industry, to open our doors to bright young apprentices,’ he added. Recent research from the Federation of Master Builders said that 66% of small and medium construction firms have had to turn down work because they don't have enough workers and the biggest shortages are for bricklayers and carpenters. The shortages all around the UK, with the east of England suffering from a short supply of plasterers, while the West Midlands is struggling to find scaffolders. Northern Ireland has the greatest need for general labourers. Firms said the main problem was difficulty in finding apprentices, and a lack of apprenticeships has held back potential new entrants to the jobs market with a belief that many are bowing to pressure from their parents to stay in full time education. ‘The lack of experienced multi skilled workers is a huge concern for my business, as it could affect our future growth plans. We urgently need tradespeople that are trained in more than one area, such as plumbing, tiling and joinery for bathroom installations but we just aren’t seeing the candidates come through,’ said Tony Passmore, chief executive of the Leeds based Passmore Group. The Home Builders Federation (HBF) agreed that recruiting and training people was now… Continue reading
